“There is no such thing as a true story. I know this because my daughter insists I told her to put her dirty dishes in the sink when I know I told her to put them in the dishwasher.” Over at The Rumpus, Ellen Urbani writes about telling the truth.

On the New Yorker’s Elements blog, our own Mark O’Connellwrites about Cloak, a new app which lets you avoid people you don’t want to bump into by accident. Despite the fact that Mark can see himself using the app, he finds it “ultimately troubling,” in large part because it strikes him as “such a lonely thing to have achieved through technological control of our social environments.” (Speaking of apps, have you read Mark’s epic e-book?)

To prepare us for the release of Italo Calvino’sletters, the editors at Page-Turner are running excerpts from the book. In their latest installment — following their firsttwo — Calvino describes New York City, which “swallowed [him] up like a carnivorous plant.”

“No matter who we’re horny to blame for our great national nightmare today, the Washington Post is offering a solution.” The Awlreports that The Washington Post is offering free digital subscriptions for students, the military, and government employers.